...If just one, we already understand each other.
...If two, we're very close to it.
...If three . . . well, we may have a bit of a gap to bridge.
. . . Four? . . . Hmm . . . Carry on, if you're willing to have your mind blown a bit, but you might be happier elsewhere.

Everyone is welcome here, though, however you got here. I've a lot to share, and I'm glad to have you enter my territory as long as you've got an open mind for it -- for I'm rough on the edges and don't see things like most people do. But you can judge for yourself in a moment. First, let me tell you about these heroes who have truly shaped the latter half of my life.

Henry David Thoreau...

is the one that most likely brought you here. If America is great, it's not because of any influence that Thoreau had; but if America has a conscience, his was a monumental voice in making it so. A curious proof of this is that it took a century before we began to realize his true stature - and even now, his is a shadow influence, dodged and side-stepped as the rush for 'greatness' continues. Well, I have identified with Thoreau for most of my life, and regard his wisdom as an urgent antidote for all that is wrong with American society today.

Francesco Bernardone...

who became St. Francis of Assisi, and is remembered for having re-instilled Christianity with a sense of its common origins. I am not a Christian, but I honor this man for having 'made a lady' of Poverty, and I try to live his vision in a secular way. His vision, simply put, was that the Universe provides...making struggle or contention for our daily needs quite unnecessary...and for very much gain beyond that, rather deplorable. Thoreau was obviously a Franciscan, as am I.

Charles E. Bolton...

- whose name no one will have chosen from my list - was an outlaw! He may be known to you by the fanciful pen name on a piece of impulsive, scornful poetry that marked this singular desperado for all time as . . . Black Bart. There are special reasons why Black Bart is up in this top sanctum of personal heroes, and I shall save them for later explication. For now, here's the bit of doggerel that changed the course of his life . . . and mine as well.

(It was found along with the emptied Wells Fargo strongbox at the site of one of his early stage robberies in 1875)

I've labored long and hard for bread,
for honor and for riches,
but on my toes too long you've tred,
you fine-haired sons o' bitches.

But enough delay . . . You are done with this Gnome-man's land, and welcome at once into my world.

(Unless, of course, the Gnome has caught your fancy, and you wish to go back for a look at the rest of my heroes. But don't forget to return here, for this is the only passage into my domain.)